Process of cutting fabric



l F. G. DODGE? PnocEss oF CUTTING FABRIC Filed May 1o, 1940 Aug. 3l, 1943;l I

T1 gti INVENTOR. G. Dodge ATTORNEYS.

mentsor 'and l I y Figure 2`is a, perspective view showing layers Patented Aug. 3l, 1943 2,328,063 l PBCESS 0F CUTTING FABRIC Frederick GfDodgefLong, Md., assignorto Cel- Vanese Corporation of America, Va. corporation of Delaware This invention relates to the cutting. of fabrics,

and relates' more particularly to the -cutting of fabric made ofyarns of non-thermoplastic illaments, 'or fibers Vin such a edges will not fray o`r ravel.v l

lmanner'rthat' `the. cut

Itis an object of ythis 4invention to provide a novel process for cutting fabric made of yarns` of non-thermoplastic filaments orbers wherebythe cut edges will be, sealed against -fraying or raveling. l v

Another object ofl this invention, is the. provia fabric ofyarns of non-thermoplasticffllaments 'v or'berswand simultaneously sealing the cut edges against' fr'aying or raveling. The fabric to be -used `in accordance with this inventionmay be `made of yarns of any non-thermoplastic fllaments or fibers.' suchas cotton, wool, linen, natusion of a process for producing novelj eilectsinl l ribbons by cutting a plurality of superposed fabrics of different characteristics' into strip or ribbon form in such a manner that the'co-extensive edges Yof the together. ,Y

Other objects of this invention will from the following detailed description.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein anembodiment of my invention is shown, f

strips `or ribbonsare cemented apoear ting tool.` The cutting action of the hot cuttingf tool, which is 4of a temperaturey sufficiently high *Y Figure 11 is 'a cross-sectional view-showing f layer of fusible materiali, such as a film or foil of a thermoplastic material superimposed on,a

layer of textile fabric dinan-thermoplastic Lvfila-- fibers indicatedby'reference numeral 2,

of fusible material I and 'the' textile fabric layer 2 being stripped from each other.

is described a process' for cutting fabrics containing at least some thermoplastic laments or bers by means of a hot cuttingl tool. The fabric em' ployed in carrying out thepatentedprocess had l to be made in whole or in part of a. material ral silk, regenerated or reconstituted cellulose, or

mixtures of these. The fabric, moreover, maybe of any `desiredbconfiguration and may be woven or knitted in any manner.` y

, In carrying out Amy invention, a sheet of'fabric made of yarns of non-thermoplastic filaments or fibers is covered' on one or both sides with a sheet made o'f orcontai'ning fusible material andl 'the superposed'layers are simultaneously cut into the desiredconflguration by means of a hot cutto melt, the fusible material, seals thecut edges of the superposed layersn'together due to the melting of the fusible material'present in at least one of the layers, which melted material runs into the filament or liber `ends of the cut edge or edges' and when cool 'solidifies and thereby seals,

the same -against fraying or raveling. Any suit-` able cutting tool may be employed in accordance so In Patent No. 1,773,967 to camine Dreyfus there f with this invention- For, example,A the utting tool may be a die, a knife ora bank of'sta ionary `or rotary knives, whichl cutting tools may be heated in any suitable manner as by gas or elec- While this invention is particularly applicable tothe use of fusible covering sheets' of cellulose whichufused under the action of heat. Examples of materials which fused under `the action of.A heat are organic esters of cellulose, such as, cellulose acetate,` cellulose propionate and cellulose butyrate, and cellulose ethers such as ethyl cel``A 'r lulose and benzyl cellulose.- The hot cutting tool melted the fusible material of the fabric along the freshly'cut edge and 'upon cooling thel melted material sealed the cut edgesy against fraying or raveling. ccordingly, this process obviated the necessity of hemming or sewing the cut edges to 'prevent fraying or'raveling. This process, however, could not be employed to'prevent frayi'ng or.

raveling in cut edges of fabric made from yarns oi.' non-thermoplastic materials, -so that' it was still necessary to hem -or sew the cut" edges of` such fabrics in order to prevent fraying or raveling.

acetate, it may bel used with sheets of other organic derivatives of cellulose, such as cellulose propionate and cellulose butyrateand cellulose ethers suchfas ethyl cellulose and benzyl cellulose. My process alsocontempl'ates the use 4of v fusible covering sheets of mixed `esters such as,

fdr example, .cellulose aceto-propionate and ce1- luloseaceto-butyrate, and also synthetic linear .polyamide condensation products such as the polyamides derived from amino acids or from the condensation of d iamines with a carboxylicacid, e. g. polyhexamethylene adipamide. Sheets made ,Y of vinyl acetate, methyl methacrylate. and other fusible synthetic resins v`may However, thisfinvention will be described in conl have newfounda novel processffor cuttingJ 15.5.

lvention.

In one .form f my invention, a fabric made of nection. with cellulose acetate which is at this time commercially. the most important of the fusiblematerials which may be employed in my inyarns of non-thermoplastic material, say cotton,

is covered on one oi' both sides with` a thin filmv also be employed.

or foil of cellulose' acetateand the layers; of the film or foil and fabric are then simultaneously cut into strips or ribbons, or into anyyother desfred conguration with a hot knife. This cut'- ting action causes the fabric and the film or foil to adhere to `Teach other'along thev but, edges. Upon cooling, which is effected in a very short period of time, the lm or foil ispe'eledoif the `fabric and it is found that `the cut edgeor edges of the cotton fabric are sealed against fraying or flowed in between the ends of the cut cotton fibers and sealed the same.

If desired, the film or 4foil of cellulose acetate may contain a plasticizer. therefor. Any suitablev plasticizer for the cellulose acetate may be eml. ployed, such as, for example, ethyl paratoluene sulphonamide, 'monomethyl xylene sulphonamide, dimethyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate; trii raveling, the fusible cellulose acetate having melted under the action of the hot cutting knife,

cuttingmbric on the bias into strips. such tape bias tape. `z l a The .invention is useful in making garments, since the sealed edges act as selvedges and there.

l need not be folded as is necessary with ordinary.

l fore it is notfnecessary tomake any hem, In the making fof garments with fabric cut in accordance with my invention, the only sewing necessary is themaking of a mere simple seam where pieces ofy fabric are to be joined. Moreover,

where flat articles of (any shape whatsoever are to be made, such as table covers, doilies, strips,

etc., no sewing whatever is necessary by the use phenyl phosphate, dibutyl tartrate, dimethoxyy l ethyl phthalate^ormlxtures of two or more of athese.

In anotherI form of my invention, a

say regenerated cellulose, is,covered on oneside with a fabric made of yarns of cellulose acetate 'l filaments or fibers and the twolayers'are then 'simultaneously cut by means of 'a hot knife, or

the two layers may be passed through a bank of heated rotary knives, to becut into the form of strips or ribbons. The cutting action causes the /fabric off'. yarns 'of lnon-thermoplastic filaments or fibers,

two fabrics to adhere to each other along the f cut kedges thereof and the edges 'of both fabrics f are sealed Vagainst fraying or raveling. The two layers oi fabric may be of different colors to pro duce yribbons yhaving desirable decorativeeffects. As "stated, the fabric used in my process may be of any desired weave or it `may even be aknit l fabric. The application of this process.` to circular knit,fabrics composed ofthe material yas ordinary methods `of cutting this material can- Anot be used because of its pronouncedtendency to However, when the cutting isdone by a knife blade or spatula heated tothe' proper temperature as above yset forth, the melting of the covering material along the edge will serve to coalesce the adjacent threads or filaments to veffectively prevent any laddering at the edge. This is especially valuable, since it`makes,

possible the use of circular knit fabric in a man-l nerheretofore impossible.

This method of cutting fabric is of general application and may be used to cut fabrics into any desired shape or form. Among the many uses of my invention since when such articles are cut by my process,no hemming is necessary to avoid fraying or raveling. Likewise, in the making of shoulder straps for' feminine wearing apparel the straps may be made .with varying width without lany bulky hems. By the use of myinvention,

not only is the time and labor of vsewing avoided,v y but articles of greater' beauty and less bulkiness may be made.

While I have described .my invention in detail,

it is to be understood that many variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of this invention.

Having described my invention, 'what I- claim'y and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Process for cutting fabric containing yarns ofv filaments or fibers of non-thermoplastic material whereby the cut edges are sealed against fraying or ravelling, which comprises applying to an assembly of'layers, at least one of which is a textile fabric of non-thermoplastic filaments or fibers and at least one yof which isa thin film or foil of thermoplastic material, localized heat and i pressure on the line of desired, severance by means of 'a hot `cutting tool so as to cause the texset forth above presents great advantages, sinee ymay be suggested the making of bias tape by tile fabric to be cut and the cut edges of the laym ers to be sealed andunited while the layers remain yseparate elsewhere than at the cut edges, and removing the film or foil from the fabric.

2'. Process for cutting fabric containing yarns `of filaments or fibers of non-thermoplastic `ma terial wherebyA the cutedges are sealed against fraying or ravelling, which comprises applying to an assembly of layers, at least one of which is a 4textile fabric of non-thermoplastic `filaments or 

